Elizabeth Storer Atkinson

Notes:

Emily Sibley Watson’s niece, older daughter of Hobart Ford Atkinson and Zilpha Louise Sibley Atkinson. Although her niece, "Libbie" was only 2 years younger than Emily Sibley Watson, and they were playmates and close friends. "Libbie" married Arthur Coslett Smith, and their house on 6 Sibley Place would later become the home of James Sibley Watson, Jr. and his wife Hildegarde Lasell Watson.

"Heliotrope" was her nom-de-plume in the Garland, literary magazine published by Emily Sibley and her friends.

Elizabeth married Arthur Cosslett Smith 19 Jun 1879. Arthur (son of Emily W. Smith) was born 19 Jan 1851; died 21 May 1926; was buried , Rochester, New York. [Group Sheet]

1. Sibley Coslett Smith was born 1880.
2. Louise Atkinson Smith was born 2 Jun 1883; died 1976.
3. Gordon Arthur Smith was born 1886.

Notes:

Emily Sibley Watson's brother-in-law, husband of her deceased sister Zilpha Louise Sibley, and father to her nieces Elisabeth Storer Atkinson Smith and Marie Louise Atkinson Willard. Hobart Ford Atkinson was a Rochester banker, and one of the executors of Hiram Sibley's estate. He remarried in 1875 and lived in "Woodside," across the street from the Hiram Sibley residence at 200 East Avenue.

Image from George C. Bragdon's Notable Men of Rochester and vicinity, XIX and XX centuries, Rochester, N. Y. : Central Printing and Engraving Co. 1902, p. 53

Hobart married Zilpha Louise Atkinson 12 Oct 1854, Rochester, New York. Zilpha (daughter of Hiram Sibley and Elizabeth Maria Tinker) was born 7 Dec 1833; died 16 Jun 1868. [Group Sheet]

Notes:

Emily Sibley Watson's older sister

Notes:

Hobart Ford Atkinson's father

William married Elizabeth Ford Atkinson Finney. Elizabeth was born 1799 Sep 27; died 1863 Nov 29. [Group Sheet]

Notes:

2nd wife of Charles Grandison Finney mother of Hobart Ford Atkinson

Notes:

Entrepreneur and capitalist, nurseryman and founder of Western Union, Hiram Sibley was born in North Adams, Massachusetts. He moved to Western New York around 1829-1830, and by 1835 he and his lifelong friend and partner Don Alonzo Watson had opened a machine shop in Sibleyville (now Mendon). He was elected Monroe County Sheriff in 1843 and began to invest in local nurseries in 1844.

Before the Civil War he was active in Republican (anti-slavery) politics.

After the invention of the telegraph in 1844, Sibley’s interests turned to telegraphy and railroads. He organized and invested in patents and companies, consolidating his interests through the formation of Western Union in 1856.

During the Civil War, Western Union consolidated its hold on northern and western telegraph lines. Sibley traveled to Russia in late 1864 to negotiate with the Tsar for an undersea telegraph cable that would cross the Bering Strait from Alaska to Russia, uniting the Americas, Europe and Asia. The plan was stymied by the ultimate success after several failures of an Atlantic cable in 1866.

In his later years, he again invested in nurseries, purchasing the largest farm in the country and founding Hiram Sibley & Co., a seed company based in Rochester and Chicago. He was a prominent supporter of both the University of Rochester and Cornell University in Ithaca.

Hiram married Elizabeth Maria Tinker 24 Jan 1833, North Adams, MA. Elizabeth (daughter of Giles Tinker and Zilpha Knight Tinker) was born 11 Aug 1815; died 11 Jul 1903, Rochester, New York ; was buried , Mount Hope Cemetery, Rochester, New York . [Group Sheet]

Notes:

Wife of Hiram Sibley; Emily Sibley Watson’s mother. She was one of the founders and early benefactors of Genesee Hospital, and a quiet philanthropist who helped many individuals.
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Benjamin married Zilpha Davis. Zilpha (child of Samuel Davis) was born 13 Apr 1771, Oxford, MA; died 10 May 1824. [Group Sheet]